Ecclesiastes 6
1 I have observed another evil here on earth, and it has a great impact on humanity.
There is an evil which I have seen under the sun, and it lieth heavy upon men;
2 God gives wealth, possessions, and honor to someone. They have everything they want. But God doesn't let them enjoy what they have. Instead somebody else does! This is hard to fathom, and is truly evil.
a man to whom God hath given riches, wealth, and honor, and nothing is wanting to him of all which he desireth, yet God giveth him not to taste thereof; but a stranger enjoyeth it. This is vanity, yea, a grievous evil.
3 A man could have one hundred children, and grow old, but it wouldn't matter how long his life was if he couldn't enjoy it and at the end receive a decent burial. I would say that a stillborn child would be better off than him.
Though a man have a hundred children, and live many years, and though the days of his years be many, if his soul be not satisfied with good, and he have no burial, I say that an untimely birth is better than he.
4 The way a stillborn child comes into the world and then leaves is painfully hard to understand—arriving and departing in darkness—and who he would have been is never known.
This, indeed, cometh in nothingness, and goeth down into darkness, and its name is covered with darkness;
5 He never saw the light of day or knew what it was like to live. Yet the child finds rest, and not this man.
it hath not seen the sun, nor known it; yet hath it rest rather than the other.
6 Even if this man were to live a thousand years twice over he still wouldn't be happy. Don't we all end up in the same place—the grave?
Yea, though he live a thousand years twice told, and see no good, — do not all go to one place?
7 Everyone works so they can live, but they're never satisfied.
All the labor of man is for his mouth, and yet his desires are not satisfied.
8 So then, what real advantage do wise people have over those who are fools? And do poor people really gain anything in knowing how to behave in front of others?
For what advantage hath the wise man over the fool? What advantage hath the poor, who knoweth how to walk before the living?
9 Be happy with what you have instead of running after what you don't! But this is also hard to do, like running after the wind.
Better is the sight of the eyes than the wandering of the desire. This also is vanity, and striving after wind.
10 Everything that exists has already been described. Everyone knows what people are like, and that you can't win an argument with a superior.
That which is was long ago called by name; and it was known that he is a man, and that he cannot contend with Him who is mightier than he.
11 For the more words you use, the harder it is to make sense. So what's the point?
Seeing there are many things which increase vanity, what advantage hath man [[from them]]?
12 Who knows what's best for us and our lives? During our short lives that pass like shadows we have many unanswered questions. And who can tell us what will happen when we're gone?
For who knoweth what is good for man in life, in all the days of his vain life, which he spendeth as a shadow? For who can tell a man what shall be after him under the sun?
